Some Coles County residents are demanding to have their property assessments invalidated after learning that the appraiser was allegedly illegally hired, a government oversight group reported recently.

Communication between Coles County officials and the Illinois Department of Revenue suggest a path to rolling back recent property assessments if the county acknowledges they were not done correctly, according to a report from a citizens oversight group.

Illinois residents burdened with falling home values and high property taxes are headed toward a cliff if Springfield doesn't do something soon to pull the state back from the precipice, a financial analyst said.

A tract of land to the east of Mattoon will undergo transformation this fall as Sarah Bush Lincoln doubles its clinic size with the construction of a 5,000-square-foot, $2 million building in a much-needed expansion.